Negotiating with the Reader
Since this work is conversation, I negotiate with the reader as to what the point of the work is and what information is important. For example, since this work deals primarily with hypertext theory, I might anticipate that a few readers will be interested in subject-matter dealing with a variety of related issues (computer literacy, literary theory, the Internet, etc.). Part of my freedom as an author on the Web is that I can, if I wish, deal with those subjects without necessarily getting in the way others' subjects. (I haven't gone into other subject matter to any great extent out of the necessity of managing this project as a Creative Component; it must be "complete" at some point.) We could then diverge from the "primary" subject matter (though the center of the work would shift and the secondary information would become primary). My providing the points of divergence and the reader choosing to follow one of the "divergent" paths is where the negotiation in the work takes place.
Competing for Attention
Argument or Database?
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